With a 10-3 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Thursday night, the Detroit Tigers finished off the most important series of the season in style. Coming into the series, the top two teams in the AL Central were both playing their best baseball of the season, and Cleveland was starting to believe they could contend for the division title. After the four-game sweep, however, the tribe faithful may be turning their attention to the traffic jam that is the AL Wild Card race.
If the Indians had been able to win, or even split this series, they would have entered the weekend feeling like they belonged in contention with the Tigers. The one thing they absolutely couldn't afford to do was lose all four games, which they did in a variety of heart-breaking ways.
[caption id="attachment_543" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Alex Avila celebrates the home run that changed the entire series for the Tigers."]
[/caption]
Game one was the most important. Cleveland outplayed the Tigers in every aspect of the game for eight strong innings, only to watch Alex Avila take it all away with one swing of the bat. Forgetting about such a devastating loss is extremely difficult, and the Indians failed to recover.
Justin Verlander took advantage of the momentum and dominated the first eight innings himself in game two. Verlander finally managed his pitch count well enough to work deep into the game, and the five-spot that the Tigers laid on Justin Masterson was more than enough to win the duel between aces.
[caption id="attachment_544" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Jeremy Bonderman returned to the Tigers and pitched three scoreless innings en route to a 14-inning win."]
[/caption]
Verlander's return to form was far less surprising than the game three victory that lasted 14 innings. The Tigers took an abysmal extra-innings record into the contest and squandered several opportunities to push runs across. Thankfully, the out-of-nowhere re-emergence of Jeremy Bonderman stole the show when he put up three scoreless innings (three strikeouts, one hit) to earn the win in his first appearance since his call up from Toledo.
After devastating, silencing and outlasting the Indians in the first three games, the only thing left to do was win a laugher. Luckily for the Tigers, that's par for the course when Max Scherzer toes the rubber. Detroit took an early eight-run lead and absolutely cruised their way right out of town. Cleveland's finest moment of the series came when ex-Tiger Ryan Rayburn took the mound and fired a 1-2-3 final inning that included a strikeout of poor Matt Tuiasosopo, which had both dugouts laughing.
Considering how hot Cleveland was coming into the series, the sweep is difficult to explain. Everyone around the Indians organization talks about how this year's team has a different feel to it than the ones that have fallen off after the All-star break the past few seasons. Nonetheless, the Tigers were able to walk into their city and win four meaningful games in a row.
Nothing could be more satisfying for a Tigers team that lost the season series with the Indians during a 2012 season that included a trip to the World Series. Though they were never in contention for the division title, the Indians were the main reason that the Tigers were unable to pull away from the Chicago White Sox until the final week of the season. Fans in Cleveland have to be wondering how the rivalry has become so lopsided, after their General Manager went out and picked up guys like Michael Bourn, Nick Swisher and Terry Francona while the Tigers added only Torii Hunter. After winning the first 2013 series in Detroit, Cleveland has dropped 12 of the last 13 games against the AL Central leaders.
The Tigers now own a commanding seven-game lead in the AL Central, and the highest winning percentage in the American League. Justin Verlander seems to be returning to form, and the rest of the starting staff is pitching some of the best baseball of their careers since the All-star break.
[caption id="attachment_545" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Prince Fielder's recent double-spree has helped the Tigers offense overcome some absent bats."]
[/caption]
Offensively, the past few weeks have been the best Tigers fans have seen in years. Not only has the team scored 10 or more runs four times during the streak, but it has done so without the consistent presence of guys like Omar Infante, Torii Hunter, Jhonny Peralta and even Miguel Cabrera in the lineup.
Every winning streak ends, sooner or later, but this quality of baseball should be appreciated while it lasts. The 12-game streak has not only seen the Tigers continue their dominant starting pitching and hitting, but also fix a battered bullpen that was threatening to burst at the seams. Adding Jose Veras has solidified the set-up role, which is shared with lefty Drew Smyly, while Bruce Rondon and Jeremy Bonderman seem to have worked out some of the problems that were holding them back earlier this season. Joaquin Benoit has been perfect in save situations, rescuing a team desperate for some consistency in the ninth inning.
With the best starting rotation in baseball, an offense clicking on all cylinders and a re-vamped bullpen, the Tigers are right where fans expected them to be by August: running away with the AL Central.
Back to the Detroit Tigers Newsfeed